The League Of Extraordinary Nations

[meagermice]

bump, bump, bumpety bump for our extraordinary friends!

[dggilluminatus]

During the last years of the reign of Pharaoh Zoser, a man known as Nephren-Ka came to Khemet. Nephren-Ka was a powerful sorceror; he

brought madness and death to his enemies with a word or a glance. The stories say that he came from an ancient city in the deserts of Arabia,

whose name was Irem, the City of Pillars. All who know of this place hold it in dread.

Nephren-Ka impressed Pharaoh with his power and knowledge of things hidden, and Pharaoh made him Vizier, second only to Pharaoh throughout the land.Nephren-Ka revived the worship of an old, foul god – the Black Pharaoh. Soon Nephren-Ka and the Black Pharaoh were interchangeable in the minds of the people. Now no one can distinguish their deeds. Pharaoh Zoser died of a wasting disease, and the sorceror proclaimed himself Pharaoh. For many years the Black Pharaoh fought with Zoser’s sons for control of the land. So great was the power of the Black Pharaoh that no record of Zoser’s sons now remains. For a time, Nephren-Ka ruled the land and its peoples. It was said that Nephren-Ka was served by a huge beast, of which the Sphinx is but a small, inaccurate representation.The voice of Nephren-Ka was said to have been carried throughout the land within a black wind, a wind which destroyed at his whim.Nephren-Ka built the Labyrinth of Kish, a place of darkness and despair. Here he practiced many foul sorceries.

At last a hero named Sneferu arose, and with the aid of Isis and Bast thwarted the evil magic and slew Nephren-Ka. Sneferu then ruled as Pharaoh and brought the favor of the gods back to the land. A pyramid was built to contain the soul of Nephren-Ka and to protect the land from his evil magic. The first pyramid was not strong enough to hold the spirit of the Black Pharaoh and it collapsed. A second pyramid was built, with strange geometries calculated by the priests to withstand the power of the Black Pharaoh. This pyramid stood, and the body of Nephren-Ka was entombed, accompanied by the curses of the priests. Yet a third pyramid was built to guard the site, lest Nephren-Ka return from death and plague the land. Pharaoh Sneferu ordered all traces of the Black Pharaoh stricken from the land. Nevertheless, worshipers of the Black Pharaoh remained and schemed for the Black Pharaoh’s return. In time, Pharaoh Khafre, son of Khufu, son of Sneferu, drove these evil ones out of the land and into the hideous swamps beyond the cataracts.

The worship of the Black Pharaoh was revived during the reign of Queen Nitocris, after the death of her husband Pharaoh Merenre. It was said that she invited the priests and generals who had conspired to slay her brother to a banquet in a subterranean chamber, then opened a secret door and flooded the chamber with the waters of the Nile. Queen Nitocris unsealed the entrance to the Labyrinth of Kish and learned much from the Black Pharaoh. The land again became a place of darkness and dread. Those who worshiped the true gods were persecuted and lived in fear. When Queen Nitocris gave birth to a son, whom she named Nephren-Ka, the people rose up and slew her. Her body was buried in a secret place, lest any evil ones attempt to recall her soul.

[dggilluminatus]

CANDY FUN FACTS:

Americans consume 20.7 pounds of candy per person every year.

The Dutch eat three times as much.

As part of a 1997 medical study to determine whether candy causes tooth decay, Swedish dentists force-fed candy to mentally challenged people.

Before becoming the president and chief operating officer of Brach's candies, Kevin Martin worked for the Alpo Pet Food Company.

If you microwave a marshmallow peep, it will expand to five times its original size.

Enough jelly beans are made each year to fill 3.5 million Easter baskets, or to circle the Earth nearly three times.

A Denver-based pet-waste-management company ("We pick up where your dog leaves off") called itself the Tootsie Roll Patrol until Tootsie Roll's lawyers ordered it to stop.

[dggilluminatus]

CEREAL FUN FACTS:

Starch dust generated in the manufacture of cereal can be highly explosive.

Sugar Smacks smell like Japanese tea.

General Mills once considered making a cereal out of seaweed.

George Mann, the actor who portrayed the King Vitamin mascot in the early seventies, was a well-known drunk who was often intoxicated while filming the commercials.

In the fifties, due to a printing error, boxes of Grape-Nuts were delivered to grocery stores with the typo "$%&@-Nuts."

edit: damn censors..........use your imagination then

Edited October 21, 2008 by illuminatus

[PorkPotPie]

A friendly bump from MERC!